Decoration of ceramic ware

ABSTRACT

A method for decorating ware comprising applying a transfer or print to a portion of the surface of the ware to be decorated, immersing the ware in a mass of particulate treatment media, and vibrating the ware and media whereby the latter act on the print in a manner effective to transfer the desired design or decoration to the surface of the ware.

United States Patent 1191 Gratty [4 Feb. 18, 1975 DECORATION OF CERAMICWARE [75] Inventor: William Gratty, Stoke-on-Trent,

England [73] Assignee: William Boulton Limited,

Stoke-on-Trent, England [22] Filed: May 24, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 256,229

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 25, 1971 Great Britain16816/71 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 596,942 H1898McGowan ll7/DIG. 8

3,7l8,5l7 2/1973 Berg 156/234 Primary ExaminerEdward G. Whitby Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Breitenfeld & Levine; Alan H. Levine [57] ABSTRACT Amethod for decorating ware comprising applying a transfer or print to aportion of the surface of the ware to be decorated, immersing the warein a mass of particulate treatment media, and vibrating the ware andmedia whereby the latter act on the print in a manner effective totransfer the desired design or decoration to the surface of the ware.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 1 DECORATION OF CERAMIC WARE The inventionrelates to the decoration of ceramic ware by means of ceramic transfers(decalcomanias).

In order to transfer the decorative matter or other design from aceramic transfer sheet on to the surface of the ware a rubbing action isnecessary and this is generally effected manually. This operationrequires to be carried out very carefully and is extremelytimeconsuming. After the pattern has been transferred to the ware byrubbing, the carrier paper is removed by wetting.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means whereby thisform of decoration of ware may be carried out in a semi-automaticmanner.

The invention provides a method for decorating ware comprising applyinga transfer or print to a portion of the surface of the ware to bedecorated, immersing the ware in a mass of particulate treatment media,and vibrating the ware and media whereby the latter act on the print ina manner effective to transfer the desired design or decoration to thesurface of the ware.

Preferably the vibratory movement is a compound vibratory movementincorporating both vertical and horizontal components. Such movement maybe effected in a treatment chamber adapted to be vibrated in a generallyhorizontal plane but resiliently mounted to introduce an up and downmovement. Advantageously the treatment chamber is of annular shape inplan such that when the charge of ware and media is subjected to acompound vibratory movement of the kind described the charge isconstrained to circulate around the treatment chamber.

Various types of media may be utilised in carrying out the invention butparticularly advantageous results have been achieved utilising mediahaving partspherical end portions connected by a cylindrical centreportion. It is desirable that the media should be relatively dense andparticularly good results have been secured using zircon media.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, inwhich: 7

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation through one form of vibratory apparatusin which the process of the invention may be carried out; and I FIG. 2illustrates a preferred form of media.

Referring to FIG. 1 the apparatus illustrated comprises a treatmentchamber or bowl 5 of annular shape in plan and having a bottom 6 ofarcuate cross-section and upstanding parallel side walls. The internalsurfaces of the bowl are lined with a resilient material such as rubberin order to prevent damage to the ware. The bowl is resiliently mountedon a base unit 10 by an annular series of coil springs 11. A cylindricalhousing 12 depends from the central region of the bowl and houses amotor 13. The motor shaft is vertical, projects from the motor casing atboth ends and is fitted with eccentric weights l4 and 15. These arepreferably relatively angularly adjustable to enable variation of themovement imparted to the bowl by the motor. When the motor is rotated avibratory movement is imparted to the bowl and an up and down componentis superimposed on this movement due to the resilient mounting of thebowl on the base structure.

In carrying out the process according to the invention the bowl isfilled with discreet particulate media, for example, of the type shownin FIG. 2,. and ware to be decorated is immersed in the media. Prior tothis the ware has applied to those surface portions to be decorated,prints or ceramic transfers of known kind which adhere to the surface ofthe ware and require to be subjected to a rubbing action to transfer thedesign onto the surface of the ware. Following insertion of the piecesof ware into the media the motor is started and the mass of media andware is subjected to a compound vibratory movement containing bothvertical and horizontal components. The nature of this movement is suchthat the media are caused to impinge on the surfaces of the ware andeffect the necessary rubbing action required to transfer the colouringmatter on to the ware. The treatment time required to effectsatisfactory transfer may be found by experiment and will vary inaccordance with a number of factors including the characteristics of thedesign and the size and shape of the ware. The nature of the vibratorymovement may be altered by effecting relative angular adjustment of theeccentric weights.

While it is believed that various types of media may be employed incarrying out the process, particularly satisfactory results have beenachieved using media of the shape shown in FIG. 2 and composed ofzircon. It will be seen by reference to FIG. 2 that the media havepart-spherical ends 20 interconnected by a generally cylindrical centreportion 21. It is thought that these may produce two different actionson the ware, the ends serving to effect a hammering action and thecentral portions a rubbing action. It is desirable in order to produce asufficient force on the surface of the workpieces that the media shouldbe relatively dense and media formed from zircon meet this requirement,though other dense materials could be utilised. Following vibration ofthe charge for a sufficient period of time, the ware is removed and thecarrier paper is then detached by wetting, leaving the design on thesurface of the ware. The ware may be removed from the machine by handafter stopping the machine or removal of the ware and separation of theware from the media may be effected automatically using any of a numberof techniques known for this purpose. During processing the ware maymove round the bowl only once or more than once as necessary.

It will be appreciated that in most instances there will be regions ofthe ware not covered by carrier paper and these regions will besubjected to a rubbing or polishing action by the media. This willproduce particles of ceramic dust and hence the machine is desirablyequipped with a dust extraction system effective to remove the dust bysuction applied from above the bowl.

Tests indicate that the process of the present invention effectstransfer of decoration to ware more uniformly and with less flaws thanconventional techniques involving hand rubbing. Moreover considerablyless labour is involved utilising techniques according to the inventionand it is envisaged that a greater throughput of products with a higherquality of decoration can be achieved compared with conventionaltechniques. A further advantage arising from the invention is that themedia are able to penetrate to areas relatively inaccessible to manualoperators, such as around cup handles and in the interior of cups,though the invention is of course applicable to much simpler shapes andto a large variety of types and sizes of ceramic products. The method ofthe invention could also be used to apply decoration and a backstampsimultaneously. A further advantage resides in the fact that nomechanical or other types of adjustments are necessary for differentshapes or sizes of ware. The size of the ware which can be processed islimited only by the size and capacity of the machine and variousdifferent sizes of machine can be made available. 7

Various modifications may be made without departing from the invention.For example, while reference has been made to a compound vibratorymovement it is envisaged that other types of vibratory movement could beutilised. Various shapes and sizes of media may also be used and theprocess could be carried out in equipment of a type different from thatdescribed.

1 claim:

1. A method for decorating ware comprising applying a transfer or printto a portion of the surface of the ware to be decorated, immersing theware in a mass of particulate treatment media, and vibrating the wareand media whereby the latter act on the print in a manner effective totransfer the desired design or decoration to the surface of the ware.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the ware and media aresubjected to a compound vibratory movement incorporating both verticaland horizontal components.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the ware and media areprocessed in a treatment chamber which is vibrated in a generallyhorizontal plane and resiliently mounted to introduce an up and downmovement.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the ware and media areconstrained to follow an annular path during vibration.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said media have part-sphericalend portions connected by a cylindrical centre portion.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein said media are made from arelatively dense material.

7. A method according to claim 6 wherein said material is zircon.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein dust particles are continuouslyremoved from the mass of ware and media by means of suction.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein a backstamp is simultaneouslyapplied to the ware.

1. A METHOD FOR DECORATING WARE COMPRISING APPLYING A TRANSFER OR PRINTTO A PORTION OF THE SURFACE OF THE WARE TO BE DECORATED, IMMERSING THEWARE IN A MASS OF PARTICULATE TREATMENT MEDIA, AND VIBRATING THE WAREAND MEDIA WHEREBY THE LATTER ACT ON THE PRINT IN A MANNER EFFECTIVE TOTRANSFER THE DESIRED DESIGN OR DECORATION TO THE SURFACE OF THE WARE. 2.A method according to claim 1 wherein the ware and media are subjectedto a compound vibratory movement incorporating both vertical andhorizontal components.
 3. A method according to claim 2 wherein the wareand media are processed in a treatment chamber which is vibrated in agenerally horizontal plane and resiliently mounted to introduce an upand down movement.
 4. A method according to claim 3 wherein the ware andmedia are constrained to follow an annular path during vibration.
 5. Amethod according to claim 1 wherein said media have part-spherical endportions connected by a cylindrical centre portion.
 6. A methodaccording to claim 5 wherein said media are made from a relatively densematerial.
 7. A method according to claim 6 wherein said material iszircon.
 8. A method according to claim 1 wherein dust particles arecontinuously removed from the mass of ware and media by means ofsuction.
 9. A method according to claim 1 wherein a backstamp issimultaneously applied to the ware.